#pokemon cafe - i wish there were more pokemon

[garmmy]

2024 jp trip report (sights edition)

i just returned from my week-long tokyo trip, and wanted to log them down so i can remember where i went. i split up the food and sights posts thanks to tumblr's image limit per post. also apologies for my unflattering pictures😂 i don't have a particularly good phone, i was taking pics more for the memories than the niceness

(food edition here)

Day 2 (14/5/2024)

starting with day 2 because we arrived at night on day 1.

we started the day at nakano broadway...where we spent too much time and money!! with its 10000 mandarake and other retro/anime goods stores. i forgot to take a closer picture of the entrance…anyway, just like in the hit video game Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth for the PS Vita and Nintendo Switch and PC and-

(expensive!!) twintails!! my beloved... <does not watch ultraman

and pokemon center in sunshine city ikebukuro! a very cool miraidon statue...and also a quaxly butt for some reason 😂

Day 3 (15/5/2024)

we walked around akiba and asakusa today. for a weeb in particular, i don't think you could finish walking akiba even in a week...anyway, just like in the video game Digimon Story Cyber Sl-

we walked the multi-storey donki in akiba. of particular note is the signage for the 'pokemon corner'....i'm crying 😭 love this graphic design

so we went around mandarake and a few other anime merch spots. soul hackers 2 merch spotted???? (i didn't get it since i didn't really need more acrylic stands.. :') arrow and his lil poltergeist friend tho...)

while walking, we passed by the otahimeinari shrine. it's always really nice to find these in the middle of the city..the tree's fruit were also huge!!

before we headed to asakusa, we walked by jinbocho. just like in the hit video game Persona 5 for the PS3- while i wish we had a bit more time to spend there (i would have loved to find some japanese language/linguistics-related books from prewar era), i really think most of the old books there are out of my depth 🤣 (it is a very nice place to stroll for lovers of old books and book smell though)

and after some train line switching screwups we made it to asakusa. as expected it's crowded even on a weekday! we saw the famous kaminarimon and also walked down the streets.

Day 4 (16/5/2024)

we started the day at tsukiji outer market, which was very near tsukiji hongwanji! beautiful buddhist temple. (also just like in the hit video game Shin Megami Tensei IV for the Nintendo 3DS)

we went on to ginza which was nearby, and made it to itoya, the multi-storey stationery store i spent too much time and money in 😩 they even had a paper shadowbox art exhibition below! the art pieces on showcase there are 🤯 beautiful...

before leaving ginza/hibiya area...shin godzilla spotted!!

then we went to tokyo skytree and did..even more shopping... (and even though i didn't get any reservations it was so cute to see kirby cafe in person ;w;)

and then we headed to ryogoku, the sumo town, for dinner. it's near sumida river so i couldn't resist getting a view...just like in the hit video game Paranormasight for Nintendo Switch and PC (ok i don't think this is the correct bridge 🤣 but the view was still very nice! and we DID go to the ryogoku bridge too though i didn't get a good pic of it)

Day 5 (17/5/2024)

we started at shinjuku today to walk to shibuya. this was the day that totally killed my feet T_T (not that the other days didn't already lol). apparently the other days were averaging 10k steps but this day was 30k?? i'm not a fit person to begin with..

anyway we were greeted by a giant cat overlord near shinjuku station exit!

godzilla spotted again! and we also spent a bit too much at the multi-storey tokyu hands here...

nearby takeshita street, we took a walk to meiji jingu shrine. just like in persona fiv- i especially enjoyed the walk to the shrine (now if only i didn't have foot pain from excessive walking), the scale of the pathway and trees! coupled with the wonderful 25? celsius weather...i still miss it as i'm writing this while back in singapore where i'm sweating just by existing. lol

on the way to shibuya, we dropped by this store called 'birdmore' specialising in birb merch and pet bird goods. MY JAW WAS ON THE FLOOR this is the first time i saw sooo many birb-themed items in one place 😭 from socks to bags to stationery to mugs and bags everything. though the species are a bit focused on the few species that generally get the birb merch in japan (budgies, cockatiels, tits, bunchou, shoebill, etc.).

i had a little talk with the shopkeeper and i mentioned we were from singapore, and she said she was envious as she wanted to visit our birdpark ;w; i told her that the birdpark moved to mandai and how the birds are flying around outside of cages and are not scared of people so you can get reallyy close to them, and she seemed so excited..aa i really hope she gets to go one day..!!

we reached shibuya parco, and...DIGIMON CORNER... i think i could cry seeing a bunch of digimon merch lined up like that in person 😭😭😭 i wanted to buy up all of these otedama SO BAD but unfortunately money and space are an issue lol. i ended up settling for an imperialdramon DM otedama ;w;

there was also a capcom store at shibuya parco! of particular interest to me were the monhun and ace attorney otedama, they didn't have otedama of susato nor my boi yian kut-ku tho...😭 it was a tough choice between nargacuga and maya ace attorney but i settled for narga ;v; (crying at otedama edgey's face though)

some other iconic locations in shibuya! just like in the video game The World Ends With You for Nintendo DS and various other-

also before we return to the hotel..the ike-fukuro statue at ikebukuro station! (TL note: fukurou is japanese for the ural owl)

Day 6 (18/5/2024)

we took a day trip to miura peninsula today (it's about an hour train ride from tokyo), using the misaki maguro ticket! i gotta get some fresh tuna sashimi while i'm in japan 😤 this might be my fave day among the days...idk, i just really enjoyed the walk and sights and food and overall experience on this day soo much ;v;;

just like everywhere in japan they have to have their own cute mascot characters....miura tunanosuke the daikon-wielding tuna samurai and miuran the sakura fairy(??)

miura beach! a very short walk from miurakaigan station and a wonderful view. also, it's just like in the hit video game Persona 5 for- (i swear i'm not specifically hunting for videogame spots lol but if i come across them why not🤭 i still find it a bit surreal how persona 1-4 were all in fictional japanese cities and suddenly..persona 5 in tokyo!)

after that we took the train to misakiguchi station and about a 20?min bus ride to misaki port. we went to the urari marche (a seafood and veg market); other than market stuffs, they had a bunch of crane machines filled with just fish and tuna merch...i respect the dedication to the theme lol! there were also other fish-related merch like this eyemask that looked like an ikura platter i wanted it so bad :')

after misaki port, we took a bus to jogashima. CATS!!!!!!! while it's not particularly a 'cat island' like some of the more famous cat islands in japan, it's still a pleasant surprise to see these cats roaming around.

and some pictures of jogashima. we walked along the uneven coast where there was no clear marked path; having stayed in the city all my life (even the nature trails here are usually cleared for easier walking) and rarely venturing overseas lol, i've never really had this sort of experience before? i didn't prepare myself for this and so my shoes meant for normal walking and not hiking kinda split halfway through the trek on uneven ground 😂 it was really beautiful, but i think because of my fitness (lack thereof) i caused extra worry...i would like to experience something like this alone sometime so i can go at my own pace without feeling pressured like i am worrying others who could've gone much faster if only i weren't there.

Day 7 (19/5/2024)

we had a morning walk at ueno park, which is HUGE and really nice to walk in, and also houses museums such as the national museum of western art, national museum of nature and science (nature museums my beloved), and tokyo national museum. sadly we didn't have time to check out the museums this time, but i'd love to visit them if i do make another trip here... my mother said before that a tour guide once told her 'singaporeans don't seem to like museums much, they prefer shopping' and sadly i am not proving that uncultured singaporean stereotype wrong with all my weeb shopping 😂😭

ueno toshogu shrine, which was built in dedication to tokugawa ieyasu. i wasn't aware till now but apparently toshogu (東照宮) refers to any shinto shrine in which ieyasu is enshrined with his deified name, and ueno toshogu is just one of the toshogu.

shinobazu pond! it was really a sight to behold in person.

ok i hit the post photo limit skdfjdkgh well the rest of the day was walking around akiba with my friend 😆 we tried to look for 13 sentinels merch (we checked out radio kaikan, suruga-ya and other places) but there was none to be found /_\ i did pass by the square enix cafe though! i was tempted to get the 16-bit arrange albums of octopath and then realised i do not have a CD player anymore..and also managed to see the one (1) bravely default merch!!

just gotta slowly save up for that next trip...someday... .w.

[prof-peach]

ADOPTABLES NOW LOOKING FOR A HOME £25 (British Pound) per mon, Paypal only, First come first serve, DM to proceed with a paypal email for the invoice should you be interested.

BULBASAUR ------------------------- SOLD ARON --------------------------------- SOLD SKITTYxGLAMEOW -----------------SOLD CACNEA ----------------------------- SOLD

(evolutions for tany adoptables are avaiable at additional costs should people want that. DM for information.)

------------------------------Bio's below-------------------------------

It is a rainy day on Dotaku, most shelter under awnings and sit watching the weather from cosy positions in cafes, frequenting the arcade by the docks, and wandering the greenhouses to dodge getting wet. You however have found your way out to a pitched marque with a handful of pokemon inside, one somewhat gloomy looking member of staff with them handing out treats. The staff member wears a zip up Dōtaku green jacket, only noticing you after a moment, a middle aged man with a rounded shape and kind eyes, one thick moustache hiding his top lip but yuo can tell he smiles.

"Come to make a new friend today? We''ve still got two trouble makers searching for the right match, maybe one would suit you. Would you like me to tell you a little about them?"

You nod, eyeing the four, two of which ocming more forward with looks of intruigue.

You're not unfamilair with bulbasaur, this one however looks very unusual, its bulb is no bulb at all, complexion far lighter, with the brightest eyes watching you. "This little lady was hatched right here on Dotaku, but she lacked what give bulbasaur their energy, not having been hatched with the seed that grows to be the typical heafty bulb on their backs. It wasnt an issue, happens from time to time, and so the Professor planted one within them, and put them in recovery. We had a freak power cut and the containment unit that had her in it was breached by Morelull spores. They took hold in the fresh surgery area,and when her bulb started to grow, it came out like this. Peach has checked her over a hundred times, and she shows no adverse issues other than being less tolerant of direct sun, and a little more active towards the end of the day and night time. She's jolly, sweet and curious, but quite young, so she can be a little naive about things. She shows a lot of talent with spore attacks, but struggles with more phyical moves. In time she may prove a very functional contest pokemon should she like that lifestyle." Moving along the line, more at the back chewing on a rather destroyed toy is an Aron with darker metal than normal, and more spikes than youre use to seeing.

"He was brought in with several dents, and substantial damage, this little bruiser despite being sick at the time was picking fights with things ten times his size. The dents were buffed out where possible, he shed chunks of his shell, and regrew in tough as ever with time. None of his damage was long lasting, and when asked wether he wished to return home, he decided travel was a better choice for him, seeing many visitors battling at the island inspired him I suppose. They do very well with steel tying and struggle with their usual rock moves, so we'd advise against pushing them down that route if they're not comfortable doing so. He has a fondness for Sour foods and likes a lot of pampering, though he may seem bashful about this at the start. Buffing their shell up so it shines will bring out a very pleasent disposition in this critter, so we advise you keep a cleaning set on hand for those days when its rainy or theres a lot of fights ahead. He mixes well with others, but can be a bully to weaker constitution mons, so keep an eye on them. We nicknamed him ‘Chunky' but he has no real affinity for the name, so feel free to discuss a pick a new one."

Next along, sitting directly in the centre of the table, so you couldnt possibly miss it, a curly tailed feline looking pokemon.

"This ones Belladonna, a real diva. Her old owner spoilt her rotten, and her behaviour got out of hand because of it. She's since been retrained and the naughty personality traits have been reeled in to a more managable level. She has become well behaved with other pokemon, socilising shouldn't be an issue now, she shows a great enjoyment of walks, but will not roughhouse, soexercise with her should be very heavily based around play and games more than battling. She loves a brush, loves to be doted on, and may weaponise her cute apperance, so dont let her get the better of you, clear systems and rules in place with reward when followed is key to her not taking full advantage of you. She has a good heart, just takes a little while for her to warm up to you."

The final one in the line is a cacnea that looks like its been stretched in a taffy puller, who sits with its little legs swinging off a crate.

"And finally that little man is perfectly healthy, happy, and otherwise well adjusted. He was brought in because someone thought there was something wrong with him, there isnt, he's just tall. His variant type has been seen working in tandem with ranchers in hotter climates to manage pokemon herds, their evolutions can see all around for a fair distance, and srve as rgeat guards, towering over their normal counterparts. He's got a real level head on him, and should grow to be a fantastic friend. He loves spicy foods, and tends to put others before himself alot, so make sure to give them dedicated time and space to maintain their health and happiness."

[cerastes]

Some small insights on things I commonly saw in Japan - nerd edition:

Not one day passed that I didn’t see at least one person with some sort of Kirby charm or keychain or sticker or somesuch on their person or backpacks. Not even in “nerdy” places, this extends to Everywhere.

You’ve likely heard this already, but Akihabara as “weeb mecca” is pretty old news and not the case anymore. You can definitely find some kickass stores there (my favorites were Mandarake and Super Potato!), but otherwise it’s pretty Just Below Surface Level mainstream nerd culture shops now, that is to say, everything is Spy x Family (dear god Anya is fucking everywhere), Kimetsu no Yaiba, One Piece, Quintuplets, Genshin, FGO, Uma Musume, Vtubers, some Bocchi, and Kaguya-sama. Mind you, I don’t dislike most of these things, but it’s literally all that is there, alongside gunpla stuff.

Den Den Town and Nakano Broadway were way fucking better for nerdy stuff. Props to Rinka for the heads up.

Sunshine City was also pretty good for nerdy stuff but with a way more focused scope: You have a Pokemon Center + Cafe there, One Piece store, Bandai Cross Store, the works.

Holy fuck they were not exaggerating, gachapon is absolutely everywhere. The Cross Store even had “Luxury Gacha” or “Premium Gacha”, can’t remember what the exact word was, that were in some cases 1500 yen a pop (for a pretty cool fucking figure though, not gonna lie).

There is gachapon of absolutely fucking anything in the world that you can think of. No, even more than what you’re currently thinking of. Stray musical notes, tools like hammers, bozosoku jackets, Nintama Rantaro, that one meme construction cat, miniature nail clippers, literally such a massive amount of sundry variety. I was humbled.

I’m kind of fucking sick of Anya Spy x Family. Literally everywhere.

I didn’t know there were stores where people can rent a little cube and sell their figures and other nerdy stuff like that. That’s such a cool concept, a little nerd-to-nerd market. Imagine you’re trading in TF2 except instead of giving someone keys for their hat, you give someone a big titty One Piece character, I don’t know the name of any, sorry, as a trade for a big titty Vtuber.

Among the stuff you could see occasionally in stores? Sakamoto Days. That made me so fucking happy.

I met 4 honest to god monks in the wild and I really wish I was fluent in Japanese, I wanted to talk to them so so so bad.

Even older nerds do NOT know VOTOMS. Every old school nerd I met in nerd bars and other such places knew Dunbine and Kinnikuman but I met literally no one that knew VOTOMS. They pulled out their phone, every time, looked it up, looked at me with that certified Japanese polite but obviously flabbergasted expression with a tinge of lemon and horror, and asked me, “how do YOU know of this?? it’s SO OLD” and I did not have the heart to tell them a 4chan dude mailed me VHS tapes with the show subbed back in 1937.

[ecargmura]

Pokemon Horizons Episode 22 Review - Hm, Rayquaza Sure Looks Different Here...

Wow, Rayquaza sure looks different! Jokes aside, this was a rather intense episode. I quite enjoyed it a lot, honestly. I loved the twist of the Pokemon in the mine not being Rayquaza but Galarian Moltres; it also being one of Lucius’s companions is surprising too given how sinister its presence is compared to Arboliva who was menacing at first but was shown to be kind.

I loved the mysterious feel the Galar Mines gave off in this episode. Though, the colors are a lot different from the actual games. The mine in the anime is more brown while the games had a blue/purple hue to them. However, I did like how empty the mine was in the anime. The emptiness was showing the viewers that something was definitely off, especially how Pokemon were running away frantically and how there wasn’t any sign of workers until they got in deeper. The show did a great job building up that forlorn atmosphere for the latter part of the episode.

While Amethio’s group make their return, it was overshadowed by the debut of Galarian Moltres. Bulbapedia states that Galarian Moltres has sinister energy that depletes their energy. The anime did a very good job showcasing this as its entire appearance gave off ominous vibes and the life depleting aura was shown. Although it is one of Lucius’s companions, it’s hard to tell if it’s angry or sad, which is a good thing because this can open up some possibilities. One, there’s a chance that Moltres is actually evil and wants to break away from Lucius’s control. Two, it could be sad that he is dead and that it’s actually really lonely. This will be a good opportunity for Liko and Hatenna to figure out why Moltres is acting this way since the former wants to know the feelings of Pokemon.

Liko and Roy were separated from Friede as a source of conflict in this episode. Fortunately, they were aware that the separation was caused by Sprigatito and Fuecoco running off out of distraction. However, I did find it annoying that Roy couldn’t wait for Friede and had to venture deeper into the mines to search for Rayquaza, making them even more lost. I like both Roy and Liko in this episode, but the way Roy wasn’t caring about the dangers of going off on their own really irked me. I just wished that Liko was a bit more assertive with what they should and shouldn’t do in these kinds of situations instead of going along with him. Fortunately, that seemed to have changed when Roy does stick with Liko and not run off, especially when they encounter the scared Pokemon and the listless workers.

I feel like Amethio’s return served no purpose other than to hinder Friede from finding the kids. They go into Round 4 of their battles, but this one also got no conclusion; seriously, why have them fight if they’re not going to finish? It’s getting annoying at this point. Zir and Conia were just there; they find the kids, but they do nothing when the big bad bird came and stole their status as the episode’s villain; all they did was send out their Pokemon and evacuate. Talk about pointless.

Captain Pikachu was the MVP of this episode. He was the one who found the kids and protected them from the henchmen and then from Moltres. Like, without Friede’s commands, Cap is very intelligent. He knows that Moltres is much stronger than him, so instead of fighting with it head on, he goes for the defensive and protect the kids from all of its attacks. Cap, you are an honorable mouse; you have my utmost respect.

There are a few scenes I quite enjoyed aside from the main plot. In the beginning, Dot gets the Swirlix Cotton Candy that she wanted three episodes ago; if you watch the episode closely, the cotton candy was actually suggested to her by a user named “Muscles of Rhydon”. If you remember back in Episode 8, this user is highly implied to be Zir, who is one of Amethio’s henchmen. That means Amethio’s group actually stopped by the Battle Cafe and got the cotton candy after beating Mitchell. The thought of them relaxing and having fun actually sounds cute to me. Another scene I enjoyed was when Liko and Roy encountered the scared Timburr, Roggenrola and Woobat. The Timburr was so cute with the way it ate the cookie. I think Liko did a splendid job of trying to understand Pokemon’s feelings. Even Hatenna enjoyed the snacks.

Overall, I’m scared for what will happen to Friede since he got trapped in the mine with Amethio. There’s absolutely no way these two can beat that Moltres. What do you think will happen next week? What are your thoughts about this episode?

[kyndaris]

Scrambling Across Shibuya

Shibuya. Known for its 109 building, the Hachiko statue out the front of the JR station and its busy crossing, the district is a popular area for tourists and locals alike. It is often described as the heart and soul of the bustling city that is Tokyo and is known for its nightlife and fashionable youth culture. What's more, it has appeared in several anime an games - leaving a strong impression on anyone who wishes to travel to Japan.

For me, this came in the form of The World Ends With You and Ghostwire Tokyo. And let's be honest, it was mostly The World Ends With You, as well as its sequel: NEO: The World Ends With You that sold me on Shibuya. Especially when it came to the iconic places in and around the area like Tower Records and the MODI shopping mall. You could also duck into Udagawacho in the game as well.

And with the trailer of Kingdom Hearts 4 showing Sora in a world featuring the 104 building - the variation of the 109 building in The World Ends With You, I'm sure you can understand my excitement.

Still, it wasn't all that long ago I visited Shibuya with my family. Eight years after my first visit, I was back there again, this time accompanied by bleachpanda as we caught up with two other friends from Australia for some much needed retail therapy as a reward for a long and arduous trip.

As was tradition, I arranged to catch-up with my two other friends by meeting near the statue of Hachiko. Mostly because it was a common meet-up spot and secondly, I didn't want to spend the day chasing after my friend as they moved from crossing to cafe to bookstore. After all, I'd already accidentally taken the wrong line to get to Shibuya Station and had to divert via bus.

Not a good start to the day.

Once we had caught up, it was off to the closest shop. From Uniqlo to Sanrio to Loft, we had a look at what was available. Despite the fact bleachpanda and I had been overseas for nigh on three weeks, this was the first time we had stopped to buy clothing for ourselves. And Loft was also a surprise. Especially when it came to souvenirs or gifts for friends.

In my defence, I wasn't in Japan for shopping and had left a lot of the research with regards to shopping for bleachpanda as I knew there were places she wanted to visit, whereas I was fine to simply look and stare at Pokemon and Disney. Which, by the way, we also visited after having some yakiniku. This also included another Capcom Store, Nintendo, a local Jump! store and a few other places to feed my need to purchase merchandise and delightful goodies to add to my ever-growing collection of things I probably wouldn't need.

While many of the things I bought are presents and souvenirs for friends, there is still a hefty amount of stuffed toys and cute items I bought that were for me alone. Bleachpanda, too, couldn't resist the chance to indulge as she bought a mountain of things while at Uniqlo and had to lug it with her as we continued on our shopping spree in Shibuya.

With evening soon upon us, my other friends had to depart earlier. They'd arranged to meet with a few other people they knew for dinner on the other side of Tokyo. Bleachpanda and I headed down to Harajuku, enjoying the brisk walk, to try out some crepes she had seen on Instagram. And to be honest, Marion Crepes was much better than the Harajuku crepes in Sydney - from the flavour to the diversity of choices, and even to the price.

And while it wasn't the in-depth walk through of Harajuku I enjoyed eight years ago with my mum, after we had toured the nearby shrine, it was still a good quick look at one of the most bustling places in Tokyo.

Afterwards, bleachpanda and I returned to our hotel in Shinjuku. Along the way, we stopped at the Disney Flagship store and had dinner at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant where we once again munched down on some lovely fatty tuna and salmon.

But though our time was ending in Japan, we still had so much more to do in Japan!

Oh, and before I forget, bleachpanda also stopped by the local Don Quijote (the day before) and bought herself a second suitcase to bring back all her goodies and to give my poor suitcase a reprieve from all the things she had bought. The two of us now had a total of four suitcases to stow all the things we wanted to buy and even then, it was a near thing trying to shove it all together.

[vaugarde]

Aim to be a Pokemon Master! Episode 3: Must be our Heroes and the Witch!

Mmm yeah okay we’re back in lukewarm territory for me.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike the episode or anything- I love Cilan’s involvement in the plot and all of his special interests, and we got a proper Galar episode that actually showcases the Pokemon it’s about (the Hatenna line) well and with respect. Every member of the line was utilized really well here! I especially liked Hatenna, she was adorable. Tbh, I wouldn’t have objected to Ash capturing it, at least if it weren’t for a certain other Hatenna character coming up…

Buuut I dunno. Aside from that, the usual Journeys-isms kinda bugged me with this one. It really felt like they didn’t quite know what to do with this one, so the plot was stretched out and the characters had to be kinda dumb for it to work? Like, the whole bit where Ash and Co. get chased out of the forest by Hatterene’s visions. First, we see how Hatterene is manipulating Brock, she has the cafe girl and Nurse Joy lovebomb and hatebomb him repeatedly. Then everyone gets these visions to drive them out…. even though everyone knows at this point that Hatterene can use illusions. Even Cilan, who should be more knowledgeable, is easily fooled, and they let this linger on til they’re out and Pikachu just suddenly snaps them out of it? And they’re like “whoaaaa what was that…. were those illusions?? But…. why would Hatterene give us illusions…? What???” Even though they know how and why Hatterene would do that at this point. And then they see Hatterene doing the love/hate bombing thing and even though we already know what’s happening, they take like three minutes to spell it out to the audience that “hey so Hatterene is love/hate bombing Brock”. And it’s like…. you know you can add subplots, right? Isn’t that what Team Rocket is supposed to be here for??

It also doesn’t quite help that I don’t care for the “Brock wants a gf” running gag. It’s a lot weirder than people make it out to be and while it isn’t inauthentic or anything, I do wish Brock’s first episode here wasn’t just that. It’s fitting I guess, but not for me.

Also the episode just kinda Ends. Hatterene hurts the Hatenna baby which… might be her baby? I think? I don’t know? And everyone is like “Please stop emotionally torturing Brock” and she just smiles and leaves. So really it feels like they didn’t know what to do with this one.

(Also this is just me but I wish Iris got mentioned. I knowwww she was treated well in Journeys as is, but like, her two besties were here…. feel like there was a missed opportunity to have them gush about how far she’s come or something)

Anyways this is probably like a C for me. (or for Cilan :3) Not bad, I did enjoy it, but too clumsy and distracting for me to really have too much fun with it. Going to the bottom, but I doubt it’ll stay there for too long.

[01turnkill]

2024 Media Post Time - Master

3. Pokemon Violet (Replayed)

Last year my Nintendo Switch tragically broke while I was playing Splatoon 3... No idea what was wrong with it. I even learned how to take it apart and put it back together but it was really really lost and the bad thing about that is I lost all of my Pokemon save data that is stored on the console. Pokemon games are some of the only games that do not back up save data to the cloud so... it was lost. I am lucky Splatoon 3 backs up data because Splatoon 2 doesn't.

Since I know Violet will have about a year more raids and events before there's nothing more, I really wanted to play it and make a team again. I missed out on the Walking Wake and Iron Leaves raids. I also thought this would be the perfect time to get the DLC though I haven't played through it yet. When I do I'll make another media post about it.

I finished Violet on release and did a lot of shiny hunting and grinded raids for a couple months before going to do other things. Finished the dex and everything... so it was pretty troublesome to do it all again. Originally it took me about 120 hours before it was freeplay mode. What was lost.. 2 shiny Vaporeon, 2 shiny Veluza, 2 shiny Ceruledge, 2 shiny Iron Valiant, 1 shiny Slowbro, 1 shiny Magneton, 1 shiny Magnezone...and more I must have forgotten about. I even had 3 shiny Veluza at one point but decided to surprise trade one away. I love having multiple of my favourite things.

This time I wanted to play quickly while also finishing the dex, and managed to do it in 45 hours with the help of a couple friends and a lot of surprise trading. I skipped most of the dialogue and didn't explore like I did originally.

I really like this game! I have a few criticisms but I am going to be somewhat of a defender of it. Don't get me wrong it has the worst performance, the kind I expect from me playing anything on my laptop, and it was made for the console so there isn't an excuse. On the Switch Lite which I borrowed to play, the NPCs in all the towns don't even load in before their dialogue. I once waited 30 seconds for the Poke Center nurse to load in just so I could heal.

Regardless it's very fun. Lots of optimisations and quality of life changes that we saw in Legends Arceus. While it removes specialty NPCs I don't miss it....

Somewhat on that track, this game lacks a reason to go back to the towns and cities apart from sandwich ingredients. I wish there were special events or battles to participate in or something like that, more like the battle cafe or even a daily puzzle or a proper game... Lots could be done.

The story is something I really love in this game. Just like in Legends Arceus the character focus was really strong and it makes it feel a lot like PMD in those ways.. It's also a little harrowing just the implications of everything and very existential the way all time travelling stories tend to be. I've got a big sci fi bias so of course I liked that a lot. Pokemon does do sci fi but this was in a different way. The false professor and the genuine professor. I love mixed consciousness and robots like that. To make it better I'd want more quests to do with area zero investigating throughout Paldea outside of the occult books (which are cool though).

Anyway basically I hate the warriors of mid, Pokemon SV are good.

[lpfreakification]

Let's talk about yesterday 😆

After seeing Across the Spider-Verse on Saturday night, I woke up with a stiff neck + remembered a certain book from the library I'd often look at. With further research, I found out there was an updated version of that book on shelf. The library didn't open til 1 so I spent the morning just chilling + playing mobile games :P

I reexplored the 1st floor again. I'll say this again: a lot has changed. The little cafe area used to be on the left side of the entrance. The Maker Studio is so brand new to me. The guest services used to be on the left side instead of straightforward as you entered.

They got ps4 + ps5 console games to check out now? Too bad they didnt have anything older :( I'm glad I took a picture of the map that led me to the graphic novel section.

Oh! I also ran into an old customer too :D that was a pleasant sight to see :)

I explored the graphic novel section. This Manga caught my attention 1st.

An ex-yakuza boss gives up his mafia life to be a house husband. The concept is adorable. The execution... wish they'd tone down his scary aura.

And then I found what I was looking for:

I grabbed a seat nearby + began looking thru page by page X3 The pages were exactly as I remembered! Some I'd constantly stare at longer than others. Knowing me, I didn't read much back then. Only looked at the pictures :P The ones I did read yesterday were about the death of the Stacys (to understand how/why this event is so important to Spider-Man's life), Doc Ock (bcuz of the last shot in Spider-Man 2 that resembles a certain panel), the Prowler (that was eye-opening for me in terms on how it connects to Spider-Verse), the Spider-Women (mostly about Jess Drew), + Spider-Man 2099 (aka one of the main updated contents).

As much as I want to talk about Miguel O'Hara/Spider-Man 2099, it could lead to Spider-Verse spoilers 😬 So, nope!

I felt like I spent a good hour reading/looking at that book :) After that fill of childhood nostalgia, I went upstairs to the 2nd floor. I should've taken a picture of the map but didn't bcuz I didn't see one 😕

The 2nd floor is more flipped around. 1st, the children's section was on the right side. I can remember all the pokemon VHS tapes, kids music cds, + computer games X) When I was in high-school, that became the teen + Manga section. I definitely do have some footage on my YouTube channel of me talking to the camera in the library back then. Now, it has become an updated version of the children's section o.o

The teen + Manga section was to the left side of the 2nd floor.

Bask in the glory of my nostalgia!

I used to hang aroubd here after school (which was across the street) all the time! (See 1st + earliest entries @ lpfreakification.tumblr.com/tagged/life/chrono) I felt like there used to be a bit more than this 🤔 No matter, some Manga were still in shelf that I used to read a lot back in the day, like Bleach + Shugo Chara X3 Some, unfortunately, like Fushigi Yugi, weren't there :( However, redemption came in the form of Arata the Legend! It was one of those Manga I was quite invested in + was eager for the next volume to come out 😃 I did make two fanarts from there but cant remember if i uploaded them on my dA or not. That jogged my memory of the story. I did catch up on two of the three that were right there. It just *had* to be the *13th* volume that shook me. Damn, I was fanning myself from the thrills. I looked up how many volumes there were. About 22 or 23? Idk bcuz there's also some remastered version I couldn't wrap my head around in. Also, they have an anime? Eh, from the looks of it, looks low-qual, off, tacky? Yeah, I like how the Manga looks more than the anime :P

The library closes at 5. Lucky for me, I had an hour to spare :) I spend a good 10 minutes of what I wanted to do next. I was craving a mango frozen yogurt from Red Mango but it's still a drive. It's not far but it's an effort XP So I looked up anything similar to nab from Target. I was right :D

A Target run later, I went home, ordered pizza from my old job, + tried this out.

Needless to say, I liked it 😆

It was somewhere past 5 pm. I mostly chilled in the kitchen until the pizza arrived. It was good to see my old coworker doing well. I do tip big bcuz 1. It makes them very happy + 2. It makes up for any other s****y tippers. I liked how he skipped back to his car like the little kid he is (he's 20), happy with his tip + visiting me too.

I keep forgetting to add pepperoni to my pizza online lately. No matter, I ate the majority of it anyway 😋 With 6 square pieces left, I was stuffed. That was a 14-inch.

I went back to my room somewhere around 6 pm. Played mobile games until I fell asleep. Last time I checked it was 6:55 pm.

And now it is 6:53 am + wide awake rn, despite writing this entry for the past 30 minutes. Man, did I sleep or what. I'm glad I didn't wake up in the middle of the night last night. Now... what do I wanna do today? 🤔

[sylviareviar]

Yeah I'm on mobile and when I click on your rules/about link it just pulls me to the top of your blog and shows me nothing. Same thing with the verses link. Cuz I wanted to refresh myself with your rules and stuff because I wanted to make sure you were OK with bnha muses sending in memes for Sylvia. (Cookie anon)

Huh. I checked on my phone, but all the links seem to work properly for me... :/

Well, if you have any questions, go ahead and ask me here. I'm A-OK with BNHA muses, and I do have a BNHA verse for Sylvia (though I haven't made a format for her and haven't fleshed it out lately due simply to me not being overly interested in it at the time). If you want to help me flesh out her character in BNHA too, though, by asking questions about her, I'd welcome that, too.

I should at least give you the basics about her BNHA verse, though, if I'm going to start accepting asks for her.

First, Sylvia's quirk is Flower Garden. She's partially photosynthetic in that she can absorb sunlight through her skin, and using her own blood and nutrients, she can sprout plants from open surfaces on her skin such as her palms, belly, legs, etc. Because of this, she's actually pretty sickly and anemic, but she can also make plants that are good for healing, and her own injuries heal pretty quickly so long as she's in the sun. You can basically think of her as a Minecraft Floran from the Origins mod, except on a slightly lesser level, because she is still human and does still need to eat well.

That being said, she doesn't want to be a Hero. She's just an ordinary citizen from the United States, and her dad and siblings moved to Japan and opened up a quaint, small bakery cafe. She lives in U.A.'s district through sheer luck, but despite admiring and loving heroes, she doesn't wish to be one herself. Her brother, however, is a different story, and he's working to apply to U.A., though it's likely he'll only get into the General Ed. course.

Her siblings have sun-related quirks, too. Lucy can absorb sunlight and turn it into a kind of beam attack, like Solar Beam from Pokemon. If she manipulates it right, she could also make blades, barriers, or other such light-related bending techniques. Her quirk is Light-Bender.

Jack's quirk, however, has less to do with the sun itself and is more related to the sky in general. Or rather, the air. When I first made him, I wanted Jack to have a pretty powerful quirk. He would be able to control the speed at which air molecules around him vibrated or moved, and with a much deeper sense of control, he could use them to either create wind currents, cause storms, end storms, etc... The idea was that his quirk, Tempest, would have been tempered and trained specifically so that he could protect his family while keeping everyone else away. The only thing he's missing in his recipe for disaster is lightning.

I made Jack's quirk before Inasa Yoarashi was introduced in the anime (but I think he might've existed in the manga?? maybe?? idk and idr), and it definitely existed before Oboro Shirakumo did. However, these quirks and ideas are ages-old by now. If you think they're out of balance (and I'd honestly agree), let me know and I'll do my best to change them.

[alexin-wonderlust]

Day Seven - Fushimi Inari and Nara

13th November 2022

I was so excited to take Ben to the Fushimi Inari Shrines today, but. It is RAINING! Like, bucketing down. No stopping, and it was BUSY at the shrine. There were people everywhere. So, standing inside the shrine, while getting dripped on by umbrellas. Not ideal. But!! The rain made for the most amazing sounds and it was really relaxing, and tranquil. I would do it all over again straight away. 

We hiked as far as the "top before it becomes hard" and decided, since we have more to do today, lets not over do it... so we walked back down. It wasnt busy any more and it was lovely walking through the temples with the rain falling and the leaves. Its magical. We even got to see a shrine cat again (I saw a bunch there last time hehe).. he was taking refuge in a shrine out of the rain. Cute baby!

Walking back through the market area, we grabbed some street food. A bacon wrapped rice ball, which was amazing -- we ate it while waiting for the train to Nara (and I dried my socks off...)

When we got to Nara, the rain had slowed down, almost stopped. The deer were SO CUTE! This time we bought some of the senbei crackers to feed them. There was one that ambushed me and wouldn't leave me alone. He legit butted me! We spent a few hours walking aimlessly through Nara now it wasnt raining any more. Of course, always hunting for the next food stop -- and I was trying to find better shoes/socks now too.

I really wish I had packed better shoes... not for the fact we did a LOT of steps today, but it also rained ALL DAY. My feet were drenched for the whole day. Lucky, Ben is a smart cookie -- and Japan are equipped with everything... our hotel room had A SHOE DRYER! YES!

We found a brewery in Nara and had pizza, but it wasn't even CLOSE to as good as the pizza at Salvatore's Grill. So it was decided that before we leave Kyoto, we were going there for our last dinner. We did some shopping at the Disney Store and Pokemon Centre, as a ritual, I have to visit them all. Then got the quattro formaggi pizza and the truffle carbonara and the Bolognese pasta this time. Still. Incredible. 10/10 would go back JUST to have that truffle carbonara again. 

IG Posts:

"Day Six; Kyoto and Nara 🦌

Unfortunately, the weather was a bit on the wetter side today. It rained all day and we got wet feet walking up the Fushimi Inari Shrine which made for a really uncomfortable afternoon but that didn’t take away from the magic of hearing the sound of the rain in the temples and seeing the autumn leaves in red and yellow.

Nara was awesome. The rain slowed down a bit, so we were able to enjoy the afternoon without being tethered to an umbrella. The deer are so peaceful and cute. Even if one tried to eat Ben’s shirt. 😂

Tomorrow we are off to camp at one of the lakes near Mount Fuji. ⛩️"

"Started the day with another cafe — Ben had a four cheese croque monsieur and I had egg with big ass toast.

Then, as usual. We snacked throughout the day. (Not pictured… egg sando from Family Mart and other snacks…)

After our adventures, we stumbled across a Craft Brewery and had a pint and a Margarita pizza then for dinner we went back to the Italian place we found the other night.

It was THAT GOOD! 🍝"

[browniefox]

speaking of asks and pokemon, im curious! what Pokémon games have you played, and which were your favorites? are there any starters that you particularly loved, or any characters?

Ah, yes, my pokemon journey, you could say. Come with me as I take a trip down memory road of every (or most) pokemon games I've played.

LeafGreen - while technically my brother let me poke around on his FireRed, LeafGreen was my own game! Incredible! I'm not sure how literate I was when I got this game. Probably not very lol. My starter was charmander - which started my 'fire starter' lifestyle - and I don't thikn I ever finished it? Eventually, after I got my next game, I gave LeafGreen to my sister, and so it's now hers.

Emerald - My favorite game, my beautiful fav, my home town, my besties live in this cartrige. I restarted the game a few times, but my final and current playthrough I have a team of Blaziken, Gardivoir, Mightyena, Castform, Peliper, and Absol. Yes, a very poorly rounded team. I could read by now but that doesn't mean I knew how to make a good team. Blaziken and Gardivoir carried. Steven was so cool, I wanted to write a fic about him. I don't think I ever finished the game until I was like 13 or something? Again, I wasn't very good lol, but I did enjoy it.

Diamond - My brother's game he let me play after he got Platinum. I think I got stuck at one point and never finished, but my starter then was Piplup. If I replayed it, my starter would be turtwig bc i now love torterra <3<3

Pokemon Dungeon: Explorers of Time - I can't say when I played this, but it was sometime before I was 13. I didn't finish it, but I did love it. I was a skitty and my partner was a chikorita, and it was us against the world!

Pokemon Rangers: Shadows of Almia - THIS WAS THE SHIT! I haven't played through this entire game in ages, and in general I dont' think I ever finished, but would play around on my brother's finished version? I think I got as far as the desert when i had it, and now it's my sister's, who just recently replayed it and finished it. The characters and writing are soooo much fun, highly recommend. I love different takes on the pokemon world.

HeartGold - was my brothers, he let me play after he got a new game. My starter was cyndiquil. I got to Whitney, struggled against her for ages, fucking finally beat her, and then my ds died and I hadn't saved and I never picked it back up. I think my brother has it now, that or it's lost lol

Pokemon Rangers: Guardian Signs - swapped Explorers of Time for this game with a kid I knew. I remember it being pretty fun! But it was a bummer that ukelele pichu is stuck as your partner and you can't swap him out for a different but cool partner pokemon. Other than that, can't remember much. I do know that my friend wanted to trade back, but he lost my game, but I gave it back anyway. I can't remember if he ever found my copy, but I defo haven't seen Explorers of Time in years.

White - Good game, great game. Again, I got to play this game after my brother got Black/White 2, and I remember enjoying it well enough. I just replayed it a couple weeks ago, though, and holy shit do I love this game. I love the characters, the themes, the usage of the gym leaders. I love N! SOOOOO MUCH!!! So much fun, 10/10 would recommend. Emerald is my favorite, but this is a close second.

Omega Ruby - my brother bought this for me for my birthday! I liked it well enough. I liked a lot of the redesigns, and it was a lot like Emerald, but I do think I liked Emerald a bit more. I think i was enough at this point to be aware of 'oh... maybe they could've put a bit more effort into this :/' I had a fun time playing it, but not as fun as Emerald (but I was young and exploring was so exciting) and they got rid of the battle frontier??? All in all, good game, but not my fav. Hm, maybe in a later date I'll make a tier list of these games or something.

Pokemon Picross - I told myself I wasn't going to go into all the apps, but just know I played a lot of this, even though I was very frustrated with how much microtransactions are expected of you. That goes for almost all pokemon game apps, tho.

Pokemon Go - also I played and still play a lot of pokemon go. I was so excited when I was announced! I didn't have a phone, so I convinced my mom to download it and I got to play it for like a day. Then I got a phone and I was a little disappointed. Now, it's a lot better than it used to be, but I still think it can still be better. Pokemon Go Summer was so great.

Moon - Again! My brother bought this one for me! I had a great time playing this game. I thought the storyline was really engaging, I loved my team sooo much, and the graphics weren't bad! Not that I say them too much - I played like 25% of this game on my 3ds with a broken screen that had a big black hole in the middle of the top screen. I really enjoyed the characters and their motivations and how terrible Lusamine was lol. Would recommend. My starter was litten bc I was like 'I always go with fire'. If I replayed it, though, I'd go with rowlet. When you pet incineroar, you, like, just rub his chest??? it's very weird.

Let's Go! Eevee! - I played this in the sense that I had a joycon in my hand and threw pokeballs while my sister played. It was just kind of an okay game, but being able to play it to any degree with my sister made it fun :)

Pokemon Dungeon: Explorers of Sky - I have explorers of sky! I bought it, desperate to play a pokemon dungeon game. I bought it off of, like, amazon or something, and damn this game made me cry. Definitely one of my favorites - if you can, play it! Play it and cry!

Pokemon Gold - my brother bought this for me, I haven't finished it. I really should pick it up again - I think I'm only like a gym or two in?

and that brings us up to present :) I like pokemon a lot! I can't wait to play more! I'd love to play b2/w2 someday in particular, I'd love to see my boy N again.

[gardenofshadcws]

Some Lysandre Headcanons (Pokemon edition)

Part 1 is here! (TW for child abuse and internalized homophobia)

Part 3

I’m still having all these Lysandre feels and I need to word dump about this eight year old game because seriously ya’ll Evolutions broke me.  This one’s a lot more cute and fluffy than the last post!

Louis the Gyarados, as mentioned in the previous post, is Lysandre’s starter.  They met when Lysandre was a child and Louis was a Magikarp, and he trained him up against the wild Spinda populating Dernière Way

.Only after Lysandre ran away did Louis finally evolve.

 Lysandre’s penthouse features a rooftop pool for Louis to swim in.  Sometimes he joins him for a few laps!

 Louis’s favorite playmate is Angelique, Augustine’s Garchomp.  The two will spend hours behind Sycamore’s lab, splashing in the pond and mock-battling.  
He’s been known to act as something of a mentor to the baby Froakie and Squirtle at Augustine’s lab, too.


Charles the Pyroar was actually a Christmas gift from Augustine.  Augustine knew Lysandre had long wished for a Fire type, often admiring the Fennekin that he kept around the lab.

Sure, he could have given him a Fennekin, but that’s not nearly as special as travelling to Détourner Way to comb the grass for something unique.

Besides, he’s often (gently, and all in fun) joked that Lysandre’s hair looks like a Pyroar

He did the whole Lady and the Tramp hatbox thing, putting the Litleo’s Pokeball inside as a surprise.  And it was love at first sight!

It’s cute when a tiny Litleo kitten sleeps on your bed between you and your boyfriend.  It’s less cute when a gigantic Pyroar insists on taking up every inch of space between the two of you.  Charles does it anyway.

Though Louis is Lysandre’s starter, Lysandre has a special place in his heart for Charles, who he considers his ace.  To him, he represents Augustine’s love for him, and that part of his life that they share.

After Lysandre’s death, Charles refuses to leave Augustine’s side.

Lysandre found Phillipe the Murkrow and Henri the Meinfoo while helping Augustine clean up the disaster area that was his apartment.  Augustine spent so much time in the lab and so little at home that a host of Pokemon had made themselves at home in the dust and grime.  One of these was a Murkrow’s nest and a thieving Meinfoo eager to steal and eat the egg.

Lysandre caught the Meinfoo to save the egg, which Augustine kept in his lab to incubate.

Naturally, Lysandre was also there when the egg hatched.  The Murkrow chick opened its eyes and decided then and there that Lysandre would be its “mother”.  And who was he to say no?

Phillipe and Henri didn’t get along in their youth, always bickering and fighting amongst each other.  They mellowed out as they got older and spent more time together on Lysandre’s team, and by the end they were best friends.

Lysandre’s Pokemon are all named after ancient kings of Kalos, and his ancestors.  It’s his way of reminding himself that his lineage was once noble and strong, and it can be again if he distances himself from his abusive parents.

Lysandre makes homemade Pokepuffs for his team.  He knows the exact texture and flavors they like, and has precise recipes memorized for each of the four, plus Augustine’s Garchomp, Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur.

Augustine convinces him to come out with a line of Pokepuffs to sell at the cafe too!


[ecargmura]

Pokemon Horizons Episode 20 Review - Kabu Time

It’s finally nice to actually see a Galarian Gym in full! What I mean is that since Ash didn’t focus much on Gyms in favor of the PWC in Journeys, Galarian Gym Leaders have been brushed off to the side aside from a few. Kabu didn’t make an appearance in the previous series so for him to have an entire episode of spotlight dedicated to him, his Gym Test, and his Gym Trainer was very nice to see! It’s finally time Galar got the respect it deserved.

In Galar, Gym Leaders are like celebrities, so it’s nice to see that sort of vibe when Kabu was in the Battle Cafe. He’s still the same passionate and wise character like he was in the game. He gave a lot of advice that hopefully will be useful for future development—especially Liko’s. I do like how he sees their potential and does his best to bring it out. He sent out his Centiskorch, who’s too OP for rookie trainers like Liko and Roy and I’m glad that he didn’t hold back. That would defeat the purpose of the wisdom he implemented onto Liko.

Liko’s major flaw as a character is that she’s kind and considerate. While those are good traits, they are also weaknesses in a way. Holding back will only let opportunities slip away; I’ve held back many things in the past out of consideration for others, but I then realized as I got older about all the missed opportunities I could’ve had if I wasn’t so caring towards others. Being too considerate for Wakaba caused her to be upset and for Sprigatito to get annoyed. Consideration is a double-edged sword in a way. While it’s nice to have, it can hurt others. I’m glad that Liko learned how it could hurt others and how selfish it can be from a different perspective. This can open up a path of development for Liko as she has to learn that being too nice on a battlefield isn’t always right and showing compassion isn’t always a good thing. I’m also glad that she actually contemplated on her actions and Kabu’s words at the end of the episode; like her, it makes me wonder what sort of Trainer she will become.

Roy is his usual self in this episode. However, I do notice that he was shown as Liko’s opposite int his episode. While he is kind, he’s not holding back on Fuecoco. While Fuecoco is down, Roy’s doing all he can to encourage and support his crocodile and, in turn, that’s what caused Fuecoco to learn Flamethrower. However, I do wish that Roy gets an opponent on his level soon and not get jobbed by stronger opponents. He’s essentially bringing a knife to a gun fight.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but Wakaba is the first instance of a Gym Trainer in a Galar-focused episode. While she’s a Gym Trainer apprentice, it’s nice to see the system of Gym Trainers be implemented in the anime. When was the last time we had Gym Trainers mentioned in a past series? Wakaba is a girl who admires Kabu and wants to be a Gym Trainer out of admiration. I do feel bad for her because she’s essentially fodder in this episode. She’s fodder for Liko to be nice to. She was fodder in the first part of the double battle as she was just sitting there and not helping out; though, I get why she just stood there because she’s still inexperienced in a way. It was super nice seeing Rolycoly spinning around like a top and I wish there was more action.

I do want to see Liko and Roy grow after this battle. I’m sure they will accumulate everything they have acquired throughout this journey to become the best versions of themselves in the future. I’m sure that we won’t recognize the flawed children they once were a few years from now. Next time, they're heading to the Galar Mines to find Rayquaza after hearing Kabu's anecdote. What are your thoughts on this episode?

[ishibishie]

i said i would maybe do this two weeks ago but i'm on a steven loving high and i saw a stupid post that was basically brainless bashing and hate in his tag so i'm here to fix this with steven love and ramble about the baby boy with a........

27 RANDOM STEVEN HEADCANONS POST!

uh cw for mentioning dead parents ig. there's a lot of dead parent stuff here sorry

- steven is asexual and aromantic. he discovered this a bit "late" when he was about 20 years old. despite his high profile in hoenn, he isn't very open about his sexuality and has only come out to a handful of close friends, the first being wallace. it was also wallace who gave him the black ring he wears.

- steven is half galarian on his mother's side. he would often visit the region with her before she died, and steven has very fond memories of watching gym matches: those battles are what inspired him to become a pokemon trainer along with his mother having been one herself in galar before she moved to hoenn. his favorite place in galar is wyndon city and he loves finding any excuse to hop aboard the trains scattered throughout the region to see all the unique scenery pass by and collect rare new stones for his collection.

- he adores space and astronomy! when he can't sleep he'll go outside and look at the stars until he eventually dozes off. this also led him to look into the mythology behind the constellations he sees, and he's had a few passionate conversations with cynthia about pokemon mythology.

- when nervous, steven tends to bite his nails. this has led to many scoldings and impromptu manicure sessions from wallace!

- his biggest fear is ghost type pokemon as he hates thinking about the concept of death. he also dislikes very strong thunderstorms, and being left alone for long amounts of time.

- as a result of his pampered childhood, steven is a bit of an attention seeker. he tends to get fussy and impatient when nobody acknowledges or listens to him. there was an isolated incident of steven throwing a pebble he had in his pocket at someone to make them pay attention when he was at his limit.

- likewise, he absolutely hates getting dirty when he's not caving. a single blemish of dirt on his nice clothes will drive him mad. he hates being disorganized and is a bit of a clean freak.

- he's a big contest fanboy! if a day off and a contest line up on the same day, expect to see steven somewhere in the audience cheering the coordinators on.

- steven and his father have a rocky relationship ever since his mother died. steven always wanted to become a pokemon trainer like his mother, but his father wanted him to take over the devon corporation one day. this unwanted pressure from his father ultimately led to steven running away from home to pursue his dreams when he was 14. now, they're still on speaking terms, but that's not to say steven looks forward to and enjoys their conversations. things only got worse when steven came out to his father and was brushed off as "going through a phase". despite everything, steven one day wishes to reconcile with his father and hopes that they can be as close as they were before his mother died.

- the one thing steven regrets most is never saying goodbye to his mother. the last thing he told her was "see you tomorrow!" before she died the very next day

- he met wallace during the time he ran away from home. the two met in lilycove city, where wallace was practicing for a contest and steven happened to be in the city. steven was intrigued by wallace's skills and ability to charm him with his pokemon. the first thing steven said to wallace was a compliment about his pokemon and the two decided to spend the day hanging out. they've been best friends ever since, and steven tends to see wallace as the big brother he never had and his main source of advice.

- he loves to write, whether it's journalling or taking notes about the rare stones he finds. however, he uses the same notebook for everything so his journal entries are often bordered by crammed-in notes about rocks. good luck reading anything, though: he has very small and cursive handwriting.

- steven is a disaster in the kitchen. the only thing he can make without any risk of burning his house down is a cup of tea.

- he's a big nature lover! in contrast to his sheltered life as the son of the ceo of a big business, he enjoys looking at flower gardens and finds any chance he can to lay down on a grassy hill and let the world move by without a care.

- he enjoys classical music and can play the flute!

- due to how he grew up without many real friends as a kid, steven tends to act a bit childish in personal social situations. he'll simply say whatever's on his mind without thinking twice and randomly cut in whenever someone else is speaking. not to mention he's terrible at holding eye contact. more "professional" conversations are where he shines as his parents taught him everything about etiquette.

- steven is polite to a fault: he usually has trouble telling people no and doesn't like to intrude on other people's conversations even if he was invited to such a conversation. it can make normal small talk awkward for both parties.

- his favorite place in hoenn is sootopolis city. he adores being surrounded by history while chatting with wallace at a local cafe, not to mention taking in the beautiful scenery at night.

- clear, sunny days are his favorites. when he travels to a colder region and gets caught in a sudden snowfall, he likes to watch it snow as it's an extreme rarity in hoenn.

- he loves to read and often wears a pair of reading glasses when he finds the time to open a book.

- steven carries a few special items with him wherever he goes: these include his key stone, the first gym badge he ever earned, an old pocket knife that belonged to his mother, and his mother's galar gym challenge league card.

- he's great at various card games. it's best to cut your losses if you make a bet with steven and he pulls out a deck of cards!

- it's easy to tell if steven is lying: he'll always rock back on his heels and bite his lower lip when doing so. using this knowledge is limited however, as steven doesn't tend to lie very often.

- his favorite food is galarian curry, especially the kind his mother used to make. he also enjoys sampling the cuisine from other regions, especially kalos. when it's time for dessert, he'll never pass up: he's got a bit of a sweet tooth!

- steven is a very laid-back person and hardly anything can really upset him. he tends to laugh off any embarrassing blunders he makes and will sometimes make small quips and jokes at his own expense. however, saying anything bad about the devon corporation will cause him to go on a profane offense, a bit ironic considering his odd and shaky relationship with the company.

- steven wears his jacket everywhere he goes. he's always complaining about being cold and it baffles everyone how he can keep wearing his blazer even in the dead heat of hoenn's summers. since he's always freezing, you can often find him at home wrapped in the fluffiest blanket he owns near the fire.

- even though he's champion of hoenn, steven still feels like he's working towards his initial dream of making his mother proud. he really only sees his championship title as one of many steps he still wants to take to live the life and dreams his mother hoped he would achieve!

(i copy pasted this from my phone notes so if the format is screwy, sorry!)

EDIT 8-30-21: yes i lowkey made this post to combat the people who are bashing on steven for getting a mega evolving rayquaza and posting this hate on his tag. it's fine to not like steven or how zinnia didn't get the mega rayray but for the love of god DON'T post hate in steven's tag! the people checking his tag are people who like him and we really don't appreciate you mindlessly calling our baby boy a racist bitch because you're salty. i'm sure you wouldn't like it if i went into zinnia's tag and posted "haha suck it side character" so. don't be a bitch. be considerate, okay?

[lilacslovers]

ok a bit of new pokemon self insert lore below the cut :Dc

my pokemon sword and shield self insert (also called lilac FDGJKGFHH) is an athlete that resides in galar, they lived in motostoke and now resides in circhester after being married to gordie

she specialises in electric-type pokemon, as well as a career in weightlifting + bodybuilding

in his spare time, she often finds herself indulged in her freelance work researching the phenomenon of wishing stars + figuring out where they may come from, as well as researching nearby stars (and researching neutron stars). this passion is very personal, and is only truly known by her husband + very close friends

in her younger years, ey were extremely shy and often found himself very lonely, in which he then found interest in the gym challenge in galar circling around the news. she was accepted into the challenge, and found herself in turffield where they met future gym leader gordie (+ future best friends milo, nessa, raihan and piers ^^)

eir persona is often seen as strong, energetic and resilient to match their speciality type + other career. however in reality and truly in person, she is often very shy and keeps a lot of things to themselves, avoiding talking to any of the press (and often pushing other gym leaders in her place to make them talk instead of him ^^;) however, he likes to talk to other gym leaders, but finds himself more close to gordie than any other gym leader.

she often struggles with a loss in a gym battle and has a tendency of pushing herself too far during a battle. his battle style is often seen as quite ‘brutal’ which makes her defence a weak point for their team, however finds plenty of time to pamper and take care of their pokemon, a team of a boltund, togedemaru, manectric, amped-form toxtricity (only shown within rematches and the galarian star tournament) and her gigantamax heart-tailed pikachu

ey have a soft spot for eir pokemon, as well as gordie’s from their friendship + relationship together. photographers for newspapers have multiple photographs published on news sites where lilac’s pikachu is eating scones with berry juice in a cafe.

(more stuff about my s/i will probably be drawn or written but here’s some because i love to write things still! FJKHGFH ^w^!)

[silvernmoonshipping-is-love]

DrownedSilver Week Day 7: What If

WARNING: Hints of child abuse/physical abuse. Which should obvious, given the character(s) in question, but still. Stay safe once again.

*

‘How could you?! We gave you what you wanted! And you betray everyone?!’

‘I-I...-’

‘Try running, we will find you!’

‘Everything you have will be for nothing!’

The hand tightened around his throat.

‘You don’t deserve anything… And we’ll make sure of that.’

*

Ben shot up, panting from the nightmare, regaining his breathing. He puts his face in his hands, kinda tugging at his slightly too long bangs.

‘I thought I was getting better with this…’

How come that now that everything has been fine for so long, memories of his childhood; if you can call it that; reemerged stronger than ever.

Ben sighed as he calmed down, but still feeling uneasy.

He recalls his therapist having mentioned that anxiety may cause unpleasant thoughts like these to come more frequently. Guess they were right. That was an especially horrific nightmare this time.

So Ben stayed silent and brought his knees up to his chest, trying to tell himself how it wasn’t real. He kept staring ahead, the room being engulfed in darkness, so Ben instead turned to watch the sleeping figure next to him.

Because he was still there, alive and well as he slept peacefully, back turned to his husband. So was their bedroom with their figurines and games, Hibiki’s books and glasses still on the night table, his prosthetic legs besides them, even the box with cat toys. Though their two companions haven’t joined them for the night, resting in the living room or so Ben presumed.

It was calming him, no matter how much the words still lingered in his mind and he can’t help but smile as he kinda drifted back into the past.

*

“Um… Hey. What’s your name?”

Ben looked up, his hood and messy wavy hair covering most of his face, a pathetic attempt to hide the bruises, other than band-aids. He saw a boy around his age standing in front of him, eyes and hair a very dark brown, almost black, his legs being the most noticeable part as they seemed fake and like he had trouble standing upright. The boy looked nervous, but still polite.

While not showing so in his expression, Ben was surprised somebody even talked to him, considering he’s just the quiet kid hanging around by himself near the swings like everyday. There are many, surely more interesting, children around them.

The boy started again, going a bit slower: “What’s your na-”

“I heard you the first time.”, Ben cut him off, the boy taken aback, but gaining a wonky smile.

“Oh, sorry. But you gave no answer and some kids say I talk weird sometimes. Or too much and fast, so they don’t know what I meant. ...So you wanna tell me?”

Well, the kids were at least right when it came to the talking too much, but he continued to stay apprehensive, the grip on the swing tightening just slightly. “What do you want from me?”

The boy blinked: “Your name? As I said.”

“Why?”

“Because I keep seeing you around school and wanna meet you?”, the boy answered, moving aside to lean against the swing set instead of just standing around, “You always seem so sad.”

Ben was shocked, he didn’t even think anyone noticed him, or even would talk to him. Most of his classmates ignore him, calling him rude or even creepy.

“I’m fine by myself though”, Ben said, believing it to be true. He wasn’t friendless after all, and he didn’t wish for any more friends.

But he still lied about one thing: “And I’m not sad by the way.”

“Oh… I misunderstood then.”, the boy frowned a little and stopped leaning at the set, maybe now he’ll leave.

But instead he held out his hand to Ben: “Then I’ll just start. I’m Hibiki.”

Ben didn’t return the gesture, still too shocked and confused why this boy hasn’t left him alone yet. A part probably wanting to yell at him to do so, but another stopping him from doing so, yearning for this kind of bond with anyone.

“I’m… Benjamin.”

“Can I call you ‘Ben’ then?”

“No.”

Hibiki pouted, but then accepted it.

They started a; more or less one-sided; conversation. Ben learning way too much about one person just today than he wanted or expected. Like how Hibiki’s family moved here from Japan, some hobbies of his, how invested he is towards animals and how he dreams of having an own bakery or cafe one day.

Most of the time Ben only gave half-assed answers, yet Hibiki never seemed to have minded, while his classmates would have told him off for being arrogant already by this point. It felt… nice.

At one point Hibiki noticed Ben’s Triforce necklace, asking him about it, Ben too ashamed to say too much like usual. So instead Hibiki just pulled out his key-chain of a pink fairy looking thing, the left side missing an arm and wing, as well as the color fading away. He explained it being a Celebi from the Pokemon franchise, but Ben knowing way too little about it to understand a single thing being told to him.

And while it was a strange first encounter, Ben started seeing Hibiki at school or so more and more; Hibiki being just one grade under him; and slowly but surely warming up to him, spending away the days. As long as his parents and… ‘father’ didn’t interfere.

Then again… Ben wasn’t sure if eventually Hibiki would catch on, maybe he’d even join. For him surely. And then it happened sooner than expected.

“Ben… Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, Silver.” A nickname Ben picked up after allowing Hibiki to call him just ‘Ben’ finally. Even if more often than not it annoyed Hibiki, because ‘The protagonist is named Gold, the rival is Silver’, but he refused to listen.

“Why are you bruised so often?”

Ben froze and sat up from having laid in the grass, staring at his friend’s worried expression.

“Do you get into fights that often? Do they hurt you badly-”

“No, I don’t get into fights!”, Ben said, a bit too loud as Hibiki flinched, “I-I mean… I get them… I… it’s from baseball practice, remember?”

“I never once saw you play baseball, you never tell anything… And I don’t think that baseball can leave such bad wounds…”

“I get hit in the face A LOT.”, Ben tried, looking around, trying to find any lie or explanation, not noticing how his hands started to shake, “It’s really okay, Hibiki.”

“Somebody keeps on hurting you, don’t they?”

Ben fell silent.

Hibki huffed, attempting to look brave: “Who are they? If they keep doing that-”

“It’s nothing… I deserve it anyways…”, Ben muttered. He couldn’t find anything anymore, too tired for it.

So instead he braced himself and told Hibiki. About his home life and… even the cult.

But he insisted Hibiki never told anyone about it, and he was sure it would be that way.

However just a few weeks later the police scanned the entire city, ending up at Ben’s home, arresting his parents, as others looked for any trace of the leaders and any still missing children. The officers tried to assure Ben that everything was fine now, but also tell them everything he knows that can help them. It scared him, everything fell apart, what if it had consequences? He could feel tears welling up, ready to spill out, but then felt a squeeze at his hand.

Since Hibiki told his parents and the police about it, he also insisted on coming to Ben and comfort him. And he held his word, as he gave a reassuring nod, holding his hand the whole way through as Ben gave in and explained everything.

And since then Hibiki never strayed from Ben’s side. Even when he was sent into an orphanage, far away out of safety with the cult. It was more difficult now of course, states away from each other, but they kept contact up as much and as long as possible.

They met again in a cafe, both grown up, having needed a moment to recognize each other. But once they did, it ending in a heartfelt reunion and looots of catching up. While Ben still had his mostly green clothes; as well as his now even longer wavy brown hair, securely tied in a pony tail now most of the times, due to it no longer having to hide his face; Hibiki changed remarkably.

He’s grown way taller, having been slightly shorter to around the same height as Ben as a child, his hair being dyed a warm reddish brown, Hibiki mentioning he thinks of getting a new hair style as well, and deep red glasses on top of his nose. He became a real adult as Ben would joke, while he remained looking like a teen almost.

It was a joyous moment to find out that Hibiki had moved to a town nearby, meaning it was now easier to uphold contact for them.

The few years after that were messy, Ben’s study in IT leaving him stressed out, while Hibiki never gave up his dream of opening his cafe, so as they got closer started to live together in a nice little apartment. And from there it all came naturally. Confessions, dates, adopting their cats and finally Marriage.

*

Ben returned from memory lane back into their bedroom, realizing he started embracing Hibiki from behind, a content smile having stretched across his lips. Hibiki was always by his side, even through the troubles and fights and annoyances, mostly towards him.

Like how Ben still never gave up on his nickname ‘Silver’, or how he can’t cook to save their lives or him having refused to go seek a therapist the first few years.

“You worrying about tomorrow?”, a voice asked, catching Ben off guard as Hibiki moved to lay on his back, returning the embrace with one arm, showing him to be awake. Ben remembering that even Hibiki’s voice changed to a low warm tone.

“...No… Just a nightmare…”, Ben muttered as an answer, nuzzling his face into his lover’s chest, closing his eyes; wishing to no longer think about those words and pictures. “About back then…”

Hibiki looked stern: “Just to let you know, I never once regretted it.”

“I know.”

Ben sighs, finally looking back up, smiling: “But I’m better now… I just… started to reminiscence of the past a little…”

“Oh, really now?”, Hibiki chuckled, turning fully on his side instead to look into Ben’s eyes, them sparkling with curiosity to listen. “Like what?”

At least one thing from his child self remained within him.

“Oh, you know, just… back when we were just stupid kids, and how much had changed or not changed when we met again. ...Maybe I should change myself a little like you.”

Ben looked up, smirking: “You think colored contacts would work? And hazel or grey ones? Oh, do you think blond dyed hair would suit me?”

Hibki placed a hand on his husband’s cheek, caressing it with his thumb, cutting him off from his ramblings. “I think you’re beautiful regardless. Especially your eyes. I love your heterochromia, don’t hide it.”

Ben blushed for a second, but then rolled his eyes: “I know that, you sap. But just speaking.”

“Well then. In my opinion, I think blonde hair wouldn’t suit you at all. I can’t force you otherwise though of course.”

Ben giggled: “What, why?”

“I just can’t see it. You and blonde hair? Ugh.”

Ben playfully punched Hibiki in the arm, who didn’t even react to it, still smiling lovingly: “Much better now?”

“I suppose… I’m not… thinking of the nightmare anymore at least.”, Ben trailed off, “But I’m still nervous…”

“What if I fail the interview or… or the cycle continues? I’ll be like them, I-”

“Ben-”

“I can barely take care of myself, I’m not the kindest or so like you, what if I’m gonna ruin everything-”

“Ben!”, Hibiki finally got through as Ben looked back up, still in his arms.

“You’re going to be a wonderful dad. You wanted this for so long, didn’t you?”

Ben hesitated, but nodded.

“See? I know you’re going to love and care for the child the best you can. And if you’re nervous of being bad: Remember that you knowledge it and worry about it being the case. So you can’t be all that bad.” Hibiki pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. “Because only bad people don’t care about the wrong they’re causing.”

“...How many times am I going to hear that sentence from you or Steven in my life?”, Ben joked.

“Well, until it is finally ingrained in your brain.”

Hibiki snuggled into his lover’s soft hair as he brings him closer.

“It’s late, let’s try and sleep. We’ll have more restless nights afterwards.”

Ben nodded once more, trying to fall back into slumber.

He does so, hoping the best for tomorrow.